Wordless Wednesday – Practicing Pet Safety

I remember working in the corporate world and noticing that I had more pictures of my dogs on my desk than other people had of their children or grandchildren. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some people thought of me as the crazy dog lady. I don’t have kids so my dogs are my family (for years, it was just Sephi and I). And as such, I take care of them as well as, and sometimes better than, I take care of myself. Here are some photos to prove it:

We all eat healthy. Maya & Pierson get a good quality dog food in measured portions.

I feed my dogs twice a day so that they don’t eat a large amount at one time. Eating too much at once can cause bloat, which can be deadly for dogs, especially big dogs. One thing I would like to try is a slow pet feeder dog bowl.

I decided to stop using retractable leads since it made Maya’s walking habits worse and because I heard a horrible story about a dog getting struck by a car because he tried to run across the street after another dog. The owner did not lock the retractable lead quickly enough. :(

Pierson has a rabies tag, the Home Again tag with his microchip number, and his id tag with my phone number.

I make sure the fenced yard is kept repaired and any dug holes are filled up.

Dougie wears a dog life jacket when he is out on the water. Dougie is not my dog. Maya has one, but I don’t have a picture of her wearing it. Pierson has yet to go swimming so he doesn’t have one yet.

I keep these in my car along with pet identification cards with vet info, a blanket, water, and extra leashes.

This sign goes on my car window whenever my dogs ride with me in the car. It has their photo and emergency contact information.

Dog toys that I know my dogs will chew to pieces are kept picked up and can only be played with under supervision.

After I heard about a dog running with a stick in his mouth and the stick getting jammed into the back of his throat, I try really hard not to let Maya play with sticks.

The first thing I do after a snow is shovel and de-ice the steps. These steps are the only way my dogs can get to the fenced yard and I don’t want them to slip. Warm water is used when they get inside to remove the salt.

Great list! Here in Florida, we also have to watch carefully that the dogs don’t eat frogs. There are some little ones that come out at night and apparently they are poisonous! Also, we check between toes and other hard to see spots from time to time to check for ticks or wounds that might go unnoticed.

What great tips! Where did you get the pet we kit and the sign from? I got a sticker for the window from petco.com to notify authorities in case of emergency there are four cats in the house. Do you have lighted leashes for your dogs?

The kit came from our website http://www.petautosafety.com. The emergency booklet came from Blue Pearl Vet. And the sign came from https://www.facebook.com/ExtremelyBoards. I don’t walk my dogs at night so I don’t have lighted leashes. Reflective leashes and collars are a good safety idea, though. Pierson’s collar has reflective qualities but his hair is so long that it doesn’t do any good.

Aww you take such good care of your furbabies! I can relate, I love love children, though I am not sure if I am going to be a parent, and if I do it will only be if I am very settled and very secure in life. So to me, my dogs are my babies, and I get I guess how some people can be annoyed by that, like my grandfather “dogs are not people”, well duh, but at the same time what is it to them, if I say hes my baby, and I take care of him as well as a mother would her child (buy good quality dog food, blowdry, go to doggy daycare) it isn’t hurting anyone, and in my mind makes for a happy healthier dog! I know what you mean about those retractable leashes, i just started Kirby on one, but have had that same fear , what if he ran out onto the road could I lock it in time? Porbably will revery back to the old school! Anyways I love love love your blog, had to follow to keep up!

I use a slow feeder bowl and Mum thinks it’s great – we also stopped using a retractable lead when I was a puppy and Mum had the top of her knuckle sliced off as I was messing about and the handle caught her hand suddenly….

Oh heavens. I SO don’t practice pet safety. Just blogged about that today. More safety measures with the chickens and ducks than with the other animals, since they stay in their coop most of the day. I walk about with them for a couple of hours a day, keeping an eye on the sky, a lookout for hawks. But the nearly 11 year old dogs have a comfortable routine. If I had a puppy, things would have to change quite a bit.